President Joe Biden sparked controversy on Sunday when, despite his prior repeated vows to the contrary, he issued a broad blanket pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, that covered all known and unknown crimes that may have occurred over an 11-year period beginning in 2014.

Biden, or more accurately his aides and staffers, may have an even more scandalous plan in the works, though, as there are reportedly ongoing discussions about granting similarly expansive and preemptive pardons for several current and former government officials, the Daily Mail reported.

The ostensible purpose of those preemptive pardons would be to protect prominent anti-Trump figures from widely anticipated retributive investigations and indictments by the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

Biden staffers considering preemptive pardons for anti-Trump figures

Politico was the first to report that some of President Biden's senior aides have been engaged in a serious internal debate about whether or not Biden should issue broad and preemptive pardons for numerous current and former officials who fear they may be targeted by politically motivated probes and prosecutions under the next administration.

Some of those said to be under consideration for protective pardons include individuals like Sen.-elect Adam Schiff (D-CA), former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and face of the government's overbearing COVID-19 pandemic response.

Schiff is currently a congressman who led the Russian collusion hoax and first impeachment against former President Trump, while Cheney joined Democrats in harshly condemning Trump over the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and even campaigned in support of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

To be sure, though, Schiff, Cheney, and Fauci are just a select few of the likely innumerable current and former officials who are potentially under consideration to receive preemptive protection from the future Trump administration's scrutiny by way of Biden's grant of clemency.

Preemptive pardons present several possible problems

There are a few problems with the Politico report, though, namely that, per unnamed sources, the reported discussions do not yet involve President Biden himself, as he was said to have been singularly focused on issuing the broad pardon of his convicted felon son for both known and unknown crimes over more than a decade.

Another problem is that prospective recipients may refuse to accept the offered pardons, given the implicit assumption of wrongdoing therein.

Indeed, Sen.-elect Schiff told Politico, "I would urge the president not to do that," and added, "I think it would seem defensive and unnecessary."

Still another issue is the worry that, like the Hunter Biden pardon, the preemptive pardons for numerous current and former officials could spark a significant backlash against Biden and the recipients, not just from Republicans but also the media and general public.

Significant risk involved in possible pardons plan

Whether President Biden is eventually prompted by his handlers and staffers to issue broad preemptive pardons for individuals who may be targeted with investigations and indictments by the Trump administration remains unclear, as it may ultimately be decided that it isn't worth the potential blowback.

That said, the Politico article cited several Democratic lawmakers and officials who were fully on board with the idea and insisted that such pardons would be necessary to guard against possible politically motivated probes and prosecutions, regardless of the likely negative repercussions such action would invite.

For now, everyone will have to wait and see over the next several weeks whether Biden is convinced by his aides to offer preemptive clemency to a host of anti-Trump individuals or decides that the suspected threat of vengeance is insufficient to warrant such a drastic and unprecedented measure.